Next car dilemma. - Estate / SUV 20k miles pa

[Spudmaster]

Evening all,
I am currently without a car and need to line something up for early 2026.
Needs to be family friendly, comfortable, ideally fun and relatively economical.
Recent car history:
Just sold Ford Ranger 3.0d v6 wildtrack. Bought for tax reasons (I’m self-employed) but moved on before end of warranty due to reliability issues.
Merc E400d estate 2020-23. One hell of a car - supremely comfortable, bl**dy quick and one hell of an engine.
Volvo V90 d5 cross-country, 2018-20. Really comfortable, but rather dull.
BMW 520d touring 2015-18 - great car, could have done with a bit more power.
I used to have a caterham for weekends, but house move saw that moved on 3 years ago, since when I have had access to my wife’s 2023 Mini Cooper S - admittedly no Caterham, but still good fun.

I fancy going back to BMW, and planning to keep longer than my standard 3 years this time, so don’t fancy buying any older than 2019. Spec-wise, lumbar is a must, as is HK stereo, with adaptive diapers and sunroof being desirable. I really, really want an M340, but will be struggling to find decent in budget and thinking it might be rather thirsty for 20k pa
Budget = £25-30k, and have whittled it down to the following:-

330d - budget should get me into c. 60k with fairly basic spec.
330i - £27k will get a nicely-specced 2021 one with c. 40k miles. I know it’s not a six cylinder/340, but reviews seem to say it’s a very under-rated car - quick, rear-drive and relatively cheap to run.
X3 3.0d - £29k gets a nicely specced 2020 car with 40k on the clock. Tempting - but after running a pick-up for 3 years I’m keen to get back into a car.
530d - surprisingly good value, but thinking I’d prefer the chuck ability of the 3.
540i - I know, I know v. Thirsty- BUT…. you can get a lot of car for my budget.

Ultimately the 330i is perhaps the best bet in my mind currently…. But would value thoughts and experience from yourselves - especially around running costs and durability….

Many thanks in advance
Spud

[danb79]

Having been out a few times in a 330D, 330i and a 540i; there's no way (more so at your annual mileage, which is low); I could overlook a 540i xDrive M Sport touring (or the 530D equivalent)

They're just put together better than the 3 series IMO and a superb car all round

[Spudmaster]

Interesting perspective thank you although I though 20k annual mileage is very much on the higher end of the scale - hence 540i not higher on the list.